Anyone ever replace a gas control valve unit on a furnace?

[politicat]

Ours is starting to make a ticking, burring noise when it comes on, so we think it may be going bad. It's electronic ignition, and five years old - I had to replace it the first winter I had the house.

The part is about $100 online, and we have a natural gas detector. Is this something we can do ourselves or do I have to pay into the protection racket that are called gas appliance repair personnel?

I really despise the fact that they won't give estimates over the phone, won't come out and give me an estimate that I can compare with others, and when they do come out, insist on turning off the furnace if they don't get to do the work. I don't think any of those are good business practices.

[NMDemDist2]

1. yikes! I'll dive into electrical, plumbing, tile repair

floor laying but when it comes to NP or LPG I call a pro! that's just too scary if you don't get it right. try calling a plumbing company though, they might be easier to deal with....

[politicat]

2. The plumbers are worse than the HVAC types.

The valve cost almost $1000 when I did it in 2000. I can't imagine how much it's gone up.

The plumbers charged us almost $400 to hook up the stove - and we figured out after the fact that it took 10 minutes of wrench work, a $28 part, and some pipe dope. Plumber did the same thing - refused to get out of my house or put what he'd taken apart back together if I didn't pay him and refused to give me estimates before he took everything apart.

Since I have to replace that hose on the stove every couple of years because it cracks when I pull out the stove to clean down the sides of the stove, I figured I could do it.

That's when we decided to learn about gas. The gas sensor has been worth every penny. The gas sensor is the important thing to have.

[Warpy]

3. Given the tendency of natural gas to go "boom,"

I would rather turf that particular repair off to somebody who is not only educated in the finer points of it, but who is insured against accidents.

Some things I'll tackle. Natural gas is something best left to professionals.

[Jersey Devil]

4. I'll do just about everything, BUT

I won't mess with a gas supply valve or with a main electrical supply cable.

Get a licensed plumber.

[eleny]

5. Maybe this is a good place to find an answer

"Ask the Expert" - Home Improvement section.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/home/home_improvement/ask_expert_front.htm?forumId=1369

[politicat]

6. Thanks.

We'll see if I get an answer.

I wouldn't be so interested in doing this myself if I could just get a few estimates. But no one will say anything over the phone, and they all want a minimum fee (lowest has been $150) to come out and goggle at a box with some circuit boards inside it. They can't fix the circuit boards; once the circuit boards are blown, you have to replace them. Troubleshooting this kind of thing is easy since we have the sensor system.

It's one pipe and two electrical plugs. Replacing a mother board in a desktop computer is harder. This doesn't even have a case fan!

[eleny]

7. The delicate thing here is the valve adjustment

We sure wouldn't want to lose you because of some darned ka-boom!

[NMDemDist2]

8. egggsactly!

be careful PCat!

[politicat]

9. looking at the manual and the part, it's electronically adjusted.

This thing has more bells and whistles than Husb2Sparkly and AZDemDist6's coffee machines. It tells me when to change the filter, when to have the fan serviced, when to give it a massage... (okay, that last one is made up). It's supposed to self-adjust based on temps (which change the available gas pressure).

I spent three hours on the phone yesterday, and still no luck. I think I'm going to have my husband try calling these people; I can't believe that there are no HVAC/plumbing professionals in the Denver-Metro area who will give estimates. But so far, not a one will. (And that's why I'm frustrated. If I could just get an estimate, I'd be happy. I just don't want someone coming out, taking it apart, and then telling me that I have to pay them $2000 before they'll put it back together, and if I won't pay it, they'll turn off my heat... and leave it a mess so that no one else will touch it, either.)

Ballpark, people. Is this that hard??

/Pcat wanders off to tear at her hair, gnash her teeth and call the better business bureau to find out if this is an acceptable practice.

[Kingshakabobo]

10. If it's just a matter of swapping out a part I say go for it.

Just take it slow and do it right. It wouldn't hurt to take a before photo so you can properly replace any parts that are in your way and need moving. You have a gas sensor so you can mitigate any safety risks. Worse case, you can always call a pro later.

My furnace started acting up this winter by doing the same thing it did a couple years ago. The heat-sensor shut-off had a soot build-up and was causing the burner to shut off 5 seconds after ignition. The first time, I paid a technician $200 bucks to come out and rub sandpaper on the sensor. Luckily, he explained the process and how easy it was even though he didn't mind collecting 2 bills for ten minutes work. This time, I pulled out the trusty phillips head and did the job myself. Four screws and eighty grit sandpaper. Fool me once....

You can always pick the brain of the parts supplier to see if there are any "tricks" to watch out for. If you buy the part at a professional furnace supplier you should get some decent help. Those guys are usually pretty sharp

[sbj405]

11. You may check out this book.

On edit - I see you said Furnace. The book does have some info on working with gas and gas control valves. Maybe useful from that perspective. Good luck.

I got it from the library.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890386200/sr=8-1/qid=1143116007/ref=sr_1_1/103-3656041-9148617?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1890386200.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

[eleny]

12. How did it work out for you?